


Steadfast

by Moiself



Category: Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Zack is a moody boy, Zackpe, mellow Despy, tagged for upcoming smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:27:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25730548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moiself/pseuds/Moiself
Summary: Zack’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders, Despy can’t stand by and watch him being crushed.
Relationships: El Desperado | Mikami Kyosuke/Zack Sabre Jr.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Steadfast

If they didn’t know any better a casual observer might have taken Zack’s absent stare for tiredness, or maybe disinterest in the conversation, even for inability to keep up with what was being said...and maybe it was an element of some of those things. Or all of them. But that wasn’t the whole story.

At least not to a non casual observer.

And when it came to Zack there was no observer less casual than Despy.

He knew every nuance of the Englishman’s moods and expressions. Every muscle flex and crooked smile, every furrowed brow and frustrated scowl. He had spent years learning how to read this man, and the story he read now was not a happy one.

Nor was it new. For months now Zack’s fury and rage had simmered in the background of their lives. The horrors of the world, the idiots in positions of power, the people blindly following those idiots to self destruction, the frightening reality of injury...these things troubled Despy so much less with Zack by his side, but he felt no insult that Zack was unable to take such comfort from him. Zack felt everything. He cared so much and Despy would never hold that against him. Not when it was one of the things he had found so attractive about him back at the start. That and those strong, long, lean legs that felt more right wrapped around his waist than he had dared to dream about.

Having an understanding of just why Zack was so angry didn’t make him any less difficult to be around sometimes, not when it was making the man so brittle and harsh, making him all jagged edges and sharp corners. And just to add to the shittiness of it all… _he knew_ , Zack _knew_ how tightly he was wound and how he was far too often colder with Despy than he meant to be.

Despy simply refused to let this rage poison their relationship, he would not let himself rise to Zack’s provocation… it wasn’t him that Zack was trying to fight with and he knew it. The Zack he loved was still there under the harshness, still showed himself when they were alone…half their private conversations were filled with apologies and reassurances, yet still he just couldn’t seem to shake the foul mood that made them necessary in the first place.

So Despy found himself back observing Zack, just as he had done all those years ago, only now stepping in to deflect or distract if a deflection or distraction was needed.

The act of taking a mental step back and just watching his Englishman had been quite the eye opener.

Because in watching, he happened to notice the change in Zack’s demeanour when he was running through training drills responding to the orders being called out by the Boss, just the tiniest easing of the bunching of his shoulders, the unclenching of his jaw and the softening of his eyes.

It probably wouldn’t be the slightest bit obvious to anyone else but to Despy it was clear as day. And it was pretty much a diluted version of the response he had observed in those instances when he had stepped in and taken over to defuse a situation, speaking for Zack and removing him from conversation…and also of the response he had seen in the most private of moments when he had Zack underneath him in their bed, folded in two, being rammed through the mattress.

He couldn’t un-see it now, and it was making him think.

The place those thoughts led him to was quite a way from where they were now. It certainly wasn’t an alien destination for Despy, he was no stranger to the fine art of taking and surrendering control, but as for Zack...well it had simply never come up. Their intimate life as as healthy as any couple whose jobs were intensely physical and on far too frequent occasion took them away from each other. They were compatible in all the ways that counted and willing to find a compromise when they weren’t.

Perhaps it was time it did come up.

-x-

Despy let himself sink into the sofa. The day had been a pretty good one. Zack had declared his jet lag to have well and truly buggered off, the Boss had been pleased with each of them at training and he’d actually enjoyed the meal he’d eaten at the restaurant he’d chosen to suit his boyfriend.

No time like the present then.

“You want a drink or a drink drink?” Zack called across from the kitchen.

They had only had one highball each with dinner…it was tempting to have another, but he knew it would be best to keep a clear head.

“Drink. What have we got that’s cold?”

“Tea, that aloe juice thing, one coffee and the last of the kombucha I snagged in the airport which I will graciously share with you if you like.”

“The thing you call kombucha which is nothing like kombucha will do nicely. Then come sit down, I need to talk to you.”

Zack rounded the counter that separated kitchen and living area, passing over the a glass before taking his spot at the opposite end of the couch, long legs swinging up to rest on Despy’s lap.

“Is this about the last of those boxes, because they’ll be sorted by the weekend I promise.”

“No they’re fine where they are, and I told you I would help you unpack…no not the boxes.”

“Well, what is it, darling? You’ve got your serious face on.” Zack nudged Despy’s tummy with the side of his foot.

“Zack, we said we would be honest with each other, right? So you would tell me if you weren’t happy? Because this past months…”

“I know, I know…I’ve been a right moody dickhead lately, but it’s just…”Zack’s voice took on a defeated tone. ”It’s just… _everything_.”

Despy wrapped a hand round one of the slim ankles on his lap and held his tongue, giving his man time to continue. He didn’t have too long to wait.

“Like when you got hurt, that scared the shit out of me. It still makes me cringe when someone goes for your jaw, and I know…you’re healed up and it was a fluke, but that’s not even the half of it. I mean, look at that fucking moron in charge of my bloody country, and that orange wanker, and then there’s this whole virus thing. And don’t even get me started on work...if I had to lose my title again, why did it have to be to that little Essex prick? It’s all so bloody maddening and I know it’s doing me no favours, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“What if I could help?”

“Help with what, darling? You could help me get my revenge on Billy boy, but I’m not sure international politics or zombie apocalypse epidemics are your area of expertise. You do enough as it is, being you…and not holding it against me when I’m being a grumpy git.”

“Help you stop overthinking things…I could help you let go, if you let me.”

Zack met Despy’s eyes, his expression tired but voice hopeful. “Tell me more.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was started back in February and then Things happened so it was put on the back burner, but I was encouraged to pick it up again so here we are. :)
> 
> So for context, this is the Zack who had just lost his Rev Pro British Heavyweight Title to Ospreay, who was still furious about everything and who had just made the move from the UK to Japan.


End file.
